morad-elli



(No Model.) 5 sheetsl-vslfeet 1 C. MOR'ADELLI.

GAR OUPLING.

N0.558,409. 'PatentedAprQ 14,1896.

NLM

f IL..

IF @f TW vs im f 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.) C. MORADELLI.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 558,409. f Pai-,ente

dApr. 14,1896.

(No Model.) Smeets-sheet 3.

C. MORADBLLI.

GAR GQUPLING.

No.. 558,409. Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

(@No Modem i Y 5 Sheets-Sheet 4. C. MORADELLI.

GAR GOUPIING. N0.558,4o9. PatentedApr.14,1s96.

(No Model.) y v5 sheets-sheen 5.

l C. MORADELLI.

CAR GOUPLING.

No. 558,409. Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

u Ns

we l 9 m l I M Q" N Kx? x '.31 NQ wa al K I l h UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

CARL MORADELLI, OF MUNICH, GERMANY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,409, dated April 14, 1896. Application filed October 26,1894. Serial No. 527,078. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL MORADELLI, locksmith, a subject of the King of Bavaria, and a resident of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Railway-Car Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to that class of car-couplings for railway-cars which are operated from the side of the rails and thus obviate the necessity of the attendants getting between the cars in order to couple the same.

The device consists mainly of swinging hooks attached to the car ends above stationary spring-retained links or loops, said hooks being retained above said links or loops previous to coupling the cars by means of eccentrics rigidly attached to a horizontal bar, adapted to be operated from the side of the car, and which when turned down allows the hook to fall into the link or loop of the next car, which has been brought into position under the same, the hook of the second car falling into position into the loop or link of the first car. The openings or orifices of the two loops or links are, on the cars approaching each other, brought into position one over the other, so that each of the hooks hitches into or through both the loops, and is secured therein by suitable mechanism, as hereinafter more particularly described.

According to a modiiication of myhinvention the loops may be arranged in a vertical instead of a horizontal plane and the hooks be made to swing in a horizontal instead of a vertical plane.

In order to make the present specification more easily intelligible, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a side elevation of the coupling; Fig. 2, a sectional side elevation; Fig. 3, a half-plan; Fig. 4, a side elevation of a modified form of my invention; Fig. 5, a plan of Fig. 4; Fig. 5, a plan of a further modification showing the links or loops having tapering extremities; Fig. 6, a sectional elevation showing links with tapering extremities and vertically-swinging hooks, and Fig. 7 a similar elevation showing the hooks in position in the links or loops.

To the end beam A of the carriage-frame is pivoted. a hook g at g2, said hook being adapted to swing in a vertical plane, and being held in its upper position when out of engagement by means of an eccentric B, keyed to a spindle h, revolubly mounted on the buiers, and having at its ends lever-arms carrying weights H, Figs. 1 to 3. At the opposite side to the throw of the eccentric the samecarries a hook i, adapted when the said eccentric is thrown over to engage over a shoulder of the said hook g, as shown at Fig. 3. Beneath the said hook g and passing through the frame A of the carriage is a bar a, having formed at its extremity a frame or loop a', said bar carrying at its rear extremity a sleeve b, having a coarse exterior screw-thread. Behind the said sleeve is arranged around the bar a a spiral spring c, bearing with its forward end against the end of the sleeve .b or against an intermediate disk and with its rearward end against a nut arranged on the bar a. An exterior sleeve el engages the exterior thread of the said sleeve b, said exterior sleeve being secured against longitudinal movement on the thread of the said sleeve b by means of a suitable strap d', attached to the carriageframe, but being free to revolve. This exte'rior sleeve carries a Worm-wheel cl2, into which meshes a worm f, mounted on a horizontal spindle DY, suitably supported in the carriage-frame and having at its end a handwheel D.

The frame or loop of the bar a at a is of sufficient dimensions and placed in such position under the hook g that when this hook and the hook of the carriage to be coupled onto the said carriage fall down to connect up the cars both the said hooks g shall pass through the said loop or frame a.

The loops or frames a of the several cars are so arranged that when the cars are run together to be coupled the two adjacent frames lie one over the other, as shown at inches will be suiiicient, so that no matter to what extent either one or other of the cars may be loaded with regard to the other the loops will always have room to pass each other and overlap.

The operation of the device is as follows: Then the carriages are run together to be coupled, the hooks g are both in the position shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 2, the loops or frames a a overlapping each other. On turning round the spindle 7L the eccentric B will be thrown over and let down the hooks g g, which pass through the loops a'. Simultaneously, however, the hooks z' at the opposite side of the eceentrics will be thrown over the shoulders of the hook-Shanks g and retain the saine in position. By turning the hand-wheel D the bars of the frames a will be tightened up against the hooks by means of the worm f, worm-wheel d, and sleeves cl2 and b.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the hooks g' g are made to swing in a horizon tal plane, while the frames a2 a2 are turned round a quarter of a turn. The hooks g g are operated by means of the rods M, adapted vto slide in guides on the buffers and having downwardly-extendin g pinsM, which en gage in slots G2 of the said hooks, said rods M being retained in either position by means of transverse pins o o, inserted through the rods at either side of the strap which guides the said rod. The operation of this part of the invention will be intelligible from the foregoing specification and needs no further explanation.

In the modication shown in Figs. G and '7 the frames a3 CL3 are made with tapering extremities running out to a point, and the said frames are not rigidly supported in the horizontal plane, as heretofore described, but are allowed a certain amount of play by the fol lowing arrangement: The sleeve b iits loosely over the bar a and has its rearward end provided with a rounded-off surface, against which a disk n on the said bar rests, the contacting surface of the said disk being also sphericallyA formed. Behind the disk is a spring c of greater strength than the buffersprings, said spring resting at its opposite extremity against a nut on the bar a. Atthe opposite side of this nut is a second and lighter spring c', bearing with its spherically-formed disk against a stationary bearing Z, arranged on the car-frame and through which the rod a passes, being free to slide in the orifice. A spring Z9 is placed in the sleeve Z) between it and the rod a, which tends to hold the said rod ce in its lowest position on the interior of D the said sleeve b.

The rotation of the sleeve d2 and worm d is facilitated by ball-bearin gs, of which the balls are arranged in grooves at the ends ofthe said sleeve d? and in corresponding recesses in the inserted disks t, and t having sphericallyformed exterior surfaces which bear against the back of the beam A of the ear-frame and the strap d,respectively. The object of the arrran gement of the springs c and c is that when the rods a ct are tightened up by means of the hand-wheels D, the., only the small spring c willbe compressed while the heavy one, e,will remain unmoved. When, however, the train is set in motion, the rods a ce will be subjected to a strong pull and will compress the heavy springs c c to a certain extent, thus forming an elastic connection between the cars, which is very advantageous. The play which the frames a3 a3 are allowed in the horizontal plane and their pointed or tapered edges will allow them to push by one another, that car which is most heavily loaded pushing its respective frames or loops underneath those of the other car, Fig. 7. In Fig. 5 a similar device is shown, but with the hooks movable in the horizontal plane and the loops placed on edge or in the vertical plane. In this case the rods M' are not retained in position by pins 0 but by notches m fm, which grip over the side of the guide-straps on the buffers, and are retained in position by means of suitable springs pp, inserted between the rod and the opposite side of the said guide-straps.

l. In a car-coupling the combination of hooks pivotally attached to the car ends, frames elastically attached to the said ear ends and arranged underneath said hooks said frames being capable of receiving the hook above them and also the hook of the next ear, means for letting down the said hooks into the said frames when overlapping each other and means for tightening up the same substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling the combination of the pivotally-attached hooks g g, frames a a' having rods or bars a elastically attached to the car-frame, eccentrics B having supportingrods h and hooks 7l at the opposite side to the throw of said eccentrics a shoulder to the said hook g over which the hooks z'grip, weighted levers II to the said eccentric-rods h and means for tightening up the said frames onto the hooks substantially as described.

3. In a ear-coupling the combination of the pivoted hooks g g, frames c a' on bars a a, a sleeve b having coarse exterior serewthread and arranged on the said bars on behind the car-frame, an exterior sleeve cl2 to engage the thread of sleeve b, a 'Worm-wheel cl to said sleeve, a worm f on wormshaft D mounted in the car-frame and means to turn said wormshaft, a nut on the end of the said bar a and an inserted sprin g e arranged between the end of the sleeve b and the said nut substantially as described and means for raising and lowerin g the hooks g g as specified.

IOO

IIC

4. In a ear-coupling the combination of In testimony whereof I have signed this hooks g' g' pivotally attached to the ear ends, specification in the presence of two subscribfraines co2 a2 having tapered ends elastieally ing Witnesses.

attaohed to the said ears and means for tight- CARL MORADELLI. 5 ening' up said frames, a bar M to operate said Witnesses:

hooks and means for arresting the said barin II. SCHLOSCH,

position substantiallyas described and shown. G. SCHEUBER. 

